Civil Engineering Materials

Lecture 15 & 16
Steel, Alloy steel composition
and classification
 Steel
• In steel the carbon content is in chemically combined
form and may exist up to 1.5%
• For a material to be classified as steel there should be no
free graphite in its composition. Any free carbon makes it
as cast iron
• Steel categories
– Dead mild steel less than 0.15% carbon
– Mild, soft, low carbon steel 0.15 to 0.3% carbon
– Medium carbon steel 0.3 to 0.8% carbon
– High carbon steel 0.8 to 1.5% carbon

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 Classification of steel
Steel

Carbon Steels Alloy Steels

Mild Steel Stainless Steel

High Carbon
Nickel Steel
Steel
High Tension
Vanadium Steel
Steel
Reinforcing
Tungsten Steel
Steel

Manganese Steel

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 Mild steel
• Steel with carbon content 0.15 to 0.3%
• Called mild steel, low carbon steel or soft steel
• Uses
– Used in construction work as rolled sections, I-sec, T-sec,
channels, angle irons, etc
– MS round bars used in RCC as reinforcement
– Plain and corrugated sheets as roofing
– Used in manufacture of various tools, equipment, machine
parts
– Rail tracks, towers and industrial buildings

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 Mild steel
• Fibrous structure with dark bluish color
• Ductile and malleable
• Tough and elastic than cast and wrought iron
• More prone to rusting and corrodes easily
• Can be permanently magnetized
• Easily forged, welded and riveted
• Withstands shocks and impacts
• Not much affected by saline water
• Equally strong in tension, compression and shear
• Difficult to harden and temper
• Specific gravity is 7.8
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 High carbon steel
• Steel where in the carbon content is from 0.55 to
1.5%
• Higher percentage of carbon renders it harder and
tougher
• Uses
– Manufacture of tools like drills, files, chisels
– Fine quality of cutlery
– Parts of machines requiring to withstand shocks and
vibrations

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 High carbon steel
• Granular structure
• Tough and elastic than mild steel
• Easier to harden and temper
• More difficult to forge, weld and rivet
• Can be permanently magnetized
• Strong in compression than tension and shear
• Withstands shocks and impacts

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 High tension steel
• High Tension Steel
– Low carbon steel with carbon nearly 0.15%
– Also called high strength steel
– Less weight is required due to increased tensile strength
– Withstands atmospheric erosion
– Tougher and more elastic
– Extensively used in reinforcing prestressed concrete structures

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 Reinforcing steel
• Reinforcing Steel
– Mild steel or high tension steel is embedded as
reinforcement in plain cement concrete to provide
tensile strength
– Flat, square and round bars used
– Welded wire mesh also used as reinforcement

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 Effect of Carbon Quantity on steel
Properties
Increase in carbon in steel:
1) Decreases the ductility of steel.
2) Increases the tensile strength of steel
3) Increases the hardness of steel.
4) Decreases the ease with which steel can be
machined.

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 Effect of Carbon Quantity on steel
Properties
Increase in carbon in steel:
5) Lowers the melting point of steel.
6) Makes steel easier to harden with heat treatments
(because enough carbon is required to change the
crystalline structure of steel)
7) Lowers the temperature required to heat treat steel.
8) Increases the difficulty of welding steel. (because of the
likelihood of formation of a hard, brittle martensite upon
weld cooling).

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 Alloy steels
• Stainless Steel
• Nickel Steel
• Vanadium Steel
• Tungsten Steel
• Manganese Steel

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 Stainless steel
• Structural steel with copper content of 0.2%
resists atmospheric corrosion better than
structural steel with no copper
• Chromium is most effective ingredient for
corrosion resistance. Corrosion protection is due
to dense film of oxide formed over metal surface.
• Steel with chromium over 16% called as stainless
steel

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 Stainless steel
• Group-1
– Chromium less than 16% and carbon less than 0.4%. Respond to
heat treatment, are not brittle, can be machined and welded.
Resist weather and water
• Group-2
– Chromium higher than 16% and carbon less than 0.4%. Do not
respond to heat treatment, are brittle. Can be forged, rolled,
cold drawn and machined. Can be welded and resist corrosion.
• Group-3
– Sufficient chromium to make it non-magnetic. Very tough and
do not respond to heat treatment. Can be forged, rolled, cold
drawn but machined with difficulty.

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 Nickel steel
• Contains 0.5 to 1.0% carbon and 3.5% nickel
which imparts hardness, toughness, strength and
reduces rust formation
• Used in manufacture of automobile parts,
airplane parts, cables and propeller shafts.
• Steel with high nickel content (30 to 40%) is called
invar, with very low coefficient of thermal
expansion, and is used to make delicate
instruments

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 Vanadium steel
• Contains 0.1 to 2.0% vanadium
• Very strong and ductile
• Capable of resisting shocks
• High elastic limit

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 Tungsten steel
• Contains 14 to 20% tungsten, 3 to 8% chromium
and very small amount of carbon, vanadium and
molybdenum
• Also called high speed steel
• Hardens at high temperature and retains temper
• Used for making drilling machines and high speed
cutting tools

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 Manganese steel
• Contains 12 to 15% manganese
• Very hard, tough and non-magnetic
• Used for making machine parts and points and
crossings in rail tracks

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 Preservation of steel
• Rusting: Oxidation of iron at the surface, which is
activated by presence of moisture and carbon
dioxide and accelerated by atmospheric pollution
• Corrosion: Phenomenon of slow but steady eating
away of metal due to rust formation

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